MOH

Medal of Honor: Emile Deleau, Jr. – U.S. Army – World War II

In the bitter winter fighting of eastern France, house by house, room by room, he drove the enemy back. He would not stop — even when it meant charging a machine gun alone.

February 12, 2026

Name: Emile Deleau, Jr.
Rank: Sergeant
Branch: U.S. Army
Unit: Company A, 142d Infantry Regiment, 36th Infantry Division
Place: Oberhoffen, France
Entered Service At: Blaine, Ohio
Born: Lansing, Ohio

Summary of Action

During the brutal night assault on Oberhoffen, France, Sergeant Emile Deleau, Jr. led his squad in savage house-to-house combat against entrenched German forces.

After clearing one building, his squad advanced toward another from which heavy machine-gun fire poured. Without hesitation, Sgt. Deleau exposed himself to enemy fire and advanced steadily, firing his submachine gun as he closed the distance. Reaching grenade range, he hurled explosives through a window, killing three Germans and destroying their weapon.

Moments later, intense rifle and machine-gun fire erupted from yet another house. Sgt. Deleau dashed through the doorway with his weapon blazing and captured ten enemy soldiers inside.

At dawn, he resumed the attack. Killing two snipers as he advanced, he encountered additional machine-gun fire blocking the route forward. Under vicious small-arms fire, he ran across open ground to reach the rear of the building and destroyed one machine gun with a grenade, killing its crew. Circling to the front, he located a second machine gun. Unable to throw a grenade from cover, he deliberately moved into an exposed position to finish the fight.

As he prepared to hurl his grenade, he was struck and killed by a burst from the very weapon he sought to silence.

Through fearless leadership and relentless aggression, Sgt. Deleau cleared four heavily defended houses, inflicted severe losses on the enemy, and enabled his battalion to reach its objective with minimal casualties.

Medal of Honor Citation

DELEAU, EMILE, JR.

Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company A, 142d Infantry, 36th Infantry Division.
Place and date: Oberhoffen, France, 12 February 1945.
Entered service at: Blaine, Ohio.
Birth: Lansing, Ohio.
G.O. No.: 60, 25 July 1945.

Citation:
He led a squad in the night attack on Oberhoffen, France, where fierce house-to-house fighting took place. After clearing 1 building of opposition, he moved his men toward a second house from which heavy machinegun fire came. He courageously exposed himself to hostile bullets and, firing his submachine gun as he went, advanced steadily toward the enemy position until close enough to hurl grenades through a window, killing 3 Germans and wrecking their gun. His progress was stopped by heavy rifle and machinegun fire from another house. Sgt. Deleau dashed through the door with his gun blazing. Within, he captured 10 Germans. The squad then took up a position for the night and awaited daylight to resume the attack. At dawn of 12 February Sgt. Deleau pressed forward with his unit, killing 2 snipers as he advanced to a point where machinegun fire from a house barred the way. Despite vicious small-arms fire, Sgt. Deleau ran across an open area to reach the rear of the building, where he destroyed 1 machinegun and killed its 2 operators with a grenade. He worked to the front of the structure and located a second machinegun. Finding it impossible to toss a grenade into the house from his protected position, he fearlessly moved away from the building and was about to hurl his explosive when he was instantly killed by a burst from the gun he sought to knock out. With magnificent courage and daring aggressiveness, Sgt. Deleau cleared 4 well-defended houses of Germans, inflicted severe losses on the enemy and at the sacrifice of his own life aided his battalion to reach its objective with a minimum of casualties.